Jose Angel Portal Miranda
Cuba's Public Health Minister, designated personally by OFAC on 23 July 2026 over the medical-missions programme.
Last refreshed: 26 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did Washington sanction Cuba's health minister by name?
Timeline for Jose Angel Portal Miranda
US sanctions hit Cuba's medical missions
Cuba DispatchBackground
Jose Angel Portal Miranda became the first sitting Cuban cabinet minister personally designated by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control over the island's medical-missions export programme, named alongside UCCM official Gretza Sanchez Padron on 23 July 2026 under Executive Order 14404 . The State Department grounded the action in its annual Trafficking in Persons report, alleging Cuban officials confiscate between 50 and 95 per cent of the wages host countries pay for the doctors sent abroad.
Born in 1968, Portal Miranda trained as a doctor with dual specialisations in comprehensive general medicine and health organisation and administration. He rose through provincial health administration in Pinar del Rio from 1996, then served as national director of Hospital Services and deputy minister of Medical and Social Assistance, before his appointment as Minister of Public Health in July 2018. He is a deputy to Cuba's National Assembly and a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee.
As minister he has represented Cuba at successive World Health Assemblies while managing a health system strained by chronic medicine shortages, and the overseas medical brigades under his ministry's coordination remain one of Cuba's largest sources of hard currency, which is precisely what the designation now puts at risk.